I heard that she was going to debut”  he stated.

“Really? When?”  Taemin got even more shocked and confused.

“It was supposed to be last week but she was suddenly out of the group, even out of JYP entertainment!”  his friend exclaimed.

“What?!”  He couldn’t believe it. Although, he wanted to make up some excuse that what his friend was talking about was false, there was a part that hinted that it might be true.

“They said that she quitted due to personal reasons but rumor has it that she was kicked out instead.”

Taemin walked home that night with a blank mind. He was still in a state of shock. He wanted to know the truth. He wanted to talk to Minji. He wanted to comfort her if it was or wasn’t true.

He suddenly stopped in front of Gong residence and pressed the doorbell three times. Minzy’s mother opened the gates and she was surprised to see Taemin.

“Good evening Mrs. Gong. Is Minji there? I need to talk to her” he politely said.

Minji’s mother’s expression turned gloomy. “Taemin-ah, she hasn’t arrived yet. She said she’ll be seeing you after class and after that I couldn’t contact her anymore. I thought she was already having a good time with you but I was wrong since you’re here right now. Eotteokhe? I have to look for her again.”

He could clearly hear the pain in her tone. “What do you mean again?”

“Taemin-ah, lately Minji has been out of it. She was too depressed and alone” her mother sadly stated.

“Was it because she got kicked out of JYP?” he cautiously asked.

Minji’s mother nodded. “She became so sad after that but she doesn’t tell me anything. She doesn’t talk to me to let out her feelings. She had been concealing it for weeks already!” She began crying.

“Mrs. Gong, don’t worry. I’ll find her even if I had to stay up all night. I’ll just call you when I see her.” Without waiting for Mrs. Gong’s reply, Taemin ran away to look for his bestfriend.

He didn’t know where to look first so he tried calling her but she wouldn’t answer. He tried to look for her in her favorite places; the ice cream parlor, playground, park, chapel, street food stalls, and school.

Then he suddenly remembered her one most favorite place in the world. It was their hideout, their safe zone, their second home; the dance studio that the village ahjumma owns. Although he was already tired, he sprinted towards the place. His phone suddenly rang and he answered it immediately.

“Lee Taemin?” the woman on the other line asked.

“Nae. Who is this?” Taemin confusedly asked.

“Aigoo! This is the dance studio ahjumma. Where are you? Minji fell asleep here. She looks so pitiful, please come and pick her up” she worriedly said.

“Nae! I’m already on my way there!” he immediately answered and hung up.

Taemin could feel his heart aching. Pitiful? How was that even possible for the strong Minji?

He ran as fast as he could and when he entered the studio, he saw Minji sleeping on the floor. He couldn’t help but feel sad for her. I’m such a bad best friend. He carefully went to her side and watched her sleep. He knew she wasn’t peacefully dreaming because she kept on twitching her brows. He was worried so he tried to calm her by gently touching her cold cheeks. He was relieved when her expression softened. He immediately removed his jacket and covered her up with it.

Taemin didn’t want to wake her up so he decided to stay with her there that night but he left a message to Minji’s mom so as not to make her worry. Minzy's mom was relieved upon knowing that her daughter was safe.

“Minji-ah, I’m sorry I left you to deal with this all by yourself. How bad of a bestfriend was I that you ended up in this place at this state? I promised that I’ll protect you but I broke that promise. I was so caught up with chasing my dreams that I forget I had a best friend who needs me. Mianhe! But that’s gonna change now. I’ll stay by your side and I won’t leave you ever again. Please be alright, like you used to be. Stop being like this. It breaks my heart to see that you’re this vulnerable.”

The next day, Minji was woken up by the bright sunlight on her face. She felt something warm covering her so she slowly opened her eyes to see what it was but the first she saw was her bestfriend, Lee Taemin, sleeping a feet away from her. She was happy for a minute and then she suddenly became sad. For her, seeing him beside her, tells her that she was just dreaming. Tears, then, fell from her eyes and she started sobbing. 

Taemin woke up almost at the same time. He was shocked to see tears streaming down his bestfriend’s face. “Wae?” he asked.

“Oppa, seeing you right now makes me happy and also sad. It means that I’m dreaming right now, but it’s a good dream, though” she forced a small smile. “Eotteokhe? You used to be the only real person to me, how come you’re showing up in my dreams now??” She cried even more.

Taemin was saddened by her words. Why does she say that it was just a dream? Was he that distant to her that seeing him became impossible? He shook his head with a comforting expression. “Minji-ah, this is not a dream. I’m really here right now and I’ll stay with you. I’ll never leave you anymore.” He lifted his hand and gently placed his palm on her cheek.

Minji closed her eyes and took up the warmth from his touch. It was assuring and comforting. It made her messed up mind calm.

“See? This is real, you could even feel my touch” he gently whispered.

From that day onwards, Taemin really stayed by Minji, not because he needed to, but because he wanted to. He was her bestfriend and he wanted them to stay like that forever. He helped her get back on her feet and start dancing once more. He taught her everything he knew from training and she learned all those quickly.

They took videos of their practices and uploaded it in the internet, just for fun. To their surprise, a lot of people watched it and commended their great dancing skills. They became famous instantly among the youtubers.

Taemin continued training as Minji waited for another opportunity. They were so excited when that day came when someone contacted Minji. “Hello, you’re Gong Minji, the famous youtuber for her dancing? Right? I am a representative from one of the biggest entertainment companies in Korea. I bet you heard about YG Entertainmen